I really dont understand how they say that GSM does not interfere with
Aircraft systems. Perhaps it doesnt, but when I was learning to fly, and my
instructor failed to turn off his phone, I could hear the typical cell
signal sounds when going from cell to cell. Not that it effected anything
but..................

When I get a text message or phone call and the phone is next to my electric
razor the razor turns on. I know it may sound unbeleivable and that I am
making this stuff up, but its true!

"Jer" <gdunn@airmail.ten> wrote in message
news:13hgdm4tke259da@corp.supernews.com...
> John Navas wrote:
>> <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7050576.stm>
>>
>> Passengers could soon be using their mobile phones on planes flying
>> through European airspace.
>>
>> Plans have been developed across EU countries to introduce technology
>> which permits mobile calls without risk of interference with aircraft
>> systems.
>>
>> Regulators around Europe are calling for consultation on the
>> potential introduction of the technology.
>>
>> If given the go ahead, the service would allow calls to be made when
>> a plane is more than 3,000 metres high.
>>
>> Individual airlines would need to decide if they wanted to introduce
>> the technology, if the green light is given by national regulators.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> The cost of making a mobile phone call from a plane will be higher
>> than making one from the ground. In the UK, regulator Ofcom said it
>> would investigate and address any evidence of "excessive charges and
>> abuses of competition" if prices were set unfairly by airlines and
>> mobile networks. ...
>>
>> The proposed system utilises an on-board base station in the plane
>> which communicates with passengers' own handsets. The base station -
>> called a pico cell - is low power and creates a network area big
>> enough to encompass the cabin of the plane.
>>
>> The base station routes phone traffic to a satellite, which is in
>> turn connected to mobile networks on the ground.
>>
>> A network control unit on the plane is used to ensure that mobiles in
>> the plane do not connect to any base stations on the ground. It
>> blocks the signal from the ground so that phones cannot connect and
>> remain in an idle state.
>>
>> Calls will be billed through passengers' mobile networks. [MORE]
>>
>> Fairly easy for Europe with one cellular standard (GSM),
>> not so easy here in the USA.
>>
>
>
> I imagine not long after the FCC 'must carry' mandate evaporates in Feb
> '08, the old technology will fold up faster than a broken lawn chair. Mom
> n' Pop AMPS/TDMA providers that have largely depended on roaming fees to
> keep the lights on will soon find there's not enough legacy handsets
> roaming around to pay the dog sitter, and they'll sell their spectrum to
> the highest bidder just before they turn out the lights for good. I'll
> give them a year.
>
> Current handsets won't work well in the noisy passenger cabin anyway.
> Further, last I knew, screaming loud enough to disturb other passengers
> wasn't allowed, not that screaming ever helped a cell phone in the first
> place.
>
> --
> jer
> email reply - I am not a 'ten'